Assembling machine



Fel 25, 1941 G.rv. coNDoN E-rAL 2,232,691r

'ASSEMBLINGl MACHINE v Filed March 1l, 1940 Figi.

Figa

Av1/@www5 the lasting margin oi the upper and move example, by means ofa fastening driven through Patented Feb. 25, 1941 AS SEB/[BLING MACHINEGeorge V. Condon, Boston, Mass., and Albin C. Eek, Webster Groves, Mo.,assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington,N. J., a corporation of New Jersey appiicanon March 11, 1940, serial No.323,264

(ci. 15a-4) now be described with reference to the accompanying drawingand pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the head ci a machine of thetype above described;

Fig. 2 is a plan view illustrating the backrest and associated parts;and

Fig. 3 is a detailed view in front elevation, partly in section,illustrating the grippers, the work-engaging portion of the upper backrest, and associated parts.

In Fig. 1 there is illustrated a portion of the head of a machine forassembling shoe parts upon their lasts which is similar in its generalorganization and in most of its details -to the machine illustrated anddescribed in the patent to Knowlton above referred to. The machine isprovided with a slide Il) which is mounted for rectilinear movementgenerally lengthwise of a shoe in the machine and is actuated by a cami2. The slide I8 has fulcrumed thereto at lll a carrier I8 arranged toswing heightwse of the shoe. On the carrier there are mounted certainoperating instrumentalities including gripper members I8 and 28 whichengage the back-seam portion of the lasting margin and move upwardlywith the carrier to apply heightwse tension to the back-seam portion ofthe upper.` For positioning the shoe lengthwise thereof, relatively tothe operating instrumentalities of the machine, a lower back rest 22 andan upper back rest 24 are arranged to engage the upper in the region ofthe back seam. The back rest assembly is similar in its generalorganization to the back rest assembly illustrated and described in thepatent to Ashton above referred to. The back rest assembly includes alower Slide 28 and an upper slide 28 mounted in a carrier member 38which is adjustable heightwse of the shoe. The back rest assemblyincludes also a vertical rocker lever 32 fulcrumed at 34 on the member38 and arranged to engage the rear portions of the slides 26 and 28,thereby to equalize the action of the back rests.

In the operation of the illustrated machine, the lower back rest 22grips the back-seam portion of the upper against the last while thegrippers move upwardly to impart heightwise tension to the back-seamportion of the upper in the manner common to machines of this type. Theupward movement of the grippers is eiected by the operation of a lever36 by the cam I2, said lever being fulcrumed at 38 and carrying at itsforward end a swivel block 40 which acts against 6 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for operating on shoes and is hereinillustrated in its application to machines for assembling shoe upperparts on their lastspreparatory to the pulling-over and lastingoperations. An embodiment of the invention is herein shown as applied toa machine of the type disclosed, for example, inUnited States LettersPatent No. 1,076,620, granted October 21, 1913, on an application ofOrrell Ashton, and No. 1,671,430, granted May 29, 1928, on anapplication of Norwood H. Knowlton.

Machines of the above type are provided with grippers which engage theback-seam portion of heightwse of the upper in the operation of themachine to stretch the back-seam portion, thereyby to eliminate anywrinkles or puckers therein and to straighten the backseam. Machines of'this type are also provided with a back rest which engages the back-seamportion of the upper adjacent to the lasting margin and determines thelongitudinal position oi the last and upper relatively to the operatinginstrumentalitiesof the machine.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a machine of theabove type in which the bac-k rest above referred to is constructed andarranged to move heightwse of the upper simuly taneously with thegrippers in order that the back rest will not obstruct the action of thegrippers on the upper. With the above object in view, the presentinvention consists in the provision in a machine of the type abovedescribed of means for moving the grippers heightwse of the upper tostretch the back-seam portion and for moving said back rest in the samedirection simultaneously with the grippers. As herein illustrated, thegrippers are mounted on a carrier which is provided with a memberconstructed and arranged to engage a lifter on said back rest. Duringthe operation of the grippers, the back-seam portion oi the upper may beheld against bodily upward movement in any known manner, for

the back-seam portion of the upper and into the rear end of the last, inaccordance with the usual practice, but preferably, and in accordancewith the present invention, the `upper is gripped against the lastduring the operation of the grippers by a lower back rest constructedand arranged to engage the back-seam portion of the upper adjacent tothe top seam and to grip it firmly against the last.

I'hese and other features of the invention will the carrier I6, al1 asillustrated and described in the Knowlton patent above referred to.

In order that the upper back rest 24 may move upwardly with the grippersso that it will not obstruct the stretching action of the grippers onthe upper, said back rest is secured to the forward end of an arm 42fulcrumed at 44 on the slide 28 for swinging movement heightwise of theupper, and a roll 46 on the carrier I6 is arranged to engage a lifter ornger 48 attached to the arm 42. The nger 48 has a vertical shank portionhaving a tongue-and-groove connection with an L-shaped bracket 5D whichhas a tongueand-groove connection to the arm 42 and is adjustablysecured to the arm by a clamping screw 52. The finger 48 is adjustablevertically on the bracket 5D and secured to the vertical portion of thebracket by a clamping screw 56. It will be understood that the nger 48must be adjusted vertically following a vertical adjustment of thecarrier member 3i] and that a slight horizontal adjustment will berequired to compensate for the varying positions of the arm 42 caused byvariations in the prole of back-seam portions of shoes.

While the invention is herein illustrated in its application to amachine of the type above described, in which the back-seam portion ofthe upper is held against vertical misplacement on the last during theoperation of the grippers solely by the gripping action of the lowerback rest 22, it will be understood that the invention is equallyapplicable to a machine such as that illustrated in the patent toKnowlton, No. 1,671,430,

` above referred to, in which the back-seam portionv of the upper isheld against misplacement during the operation of the grippers by a tackdriven through the back-seam portion of the upper and into the last at apoint near the top seam of the upper prior to the action of thegrippers.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l.. In a machine for assembling shoe parts upon their lasts preparatoryto lasting, the combination with a back rest and grippers constructedand arranged to engage the back-seam portion of the lasting margin of anupper, of means for moving the grippers heightwise of the upper tostretch the back-seam portion and for moving the back rest in the samedirection simultaneously with the grippers.

2, In a machine for assembling slice parts upon their lasts preparatoryto lasting, the combination with a back rest and grippers constructedand arranged to engage the back-seam portion of the lasting margin of anupper, of a carrier for the grippers, means for moving the carrierheightwise of the upper, and means whereby the heightwise movement ofthe carrier is imparted to the back rest.

3. In a machine for assembling shoe parts upon their lasts preparatoryto lasting, the combination with a back rest and grippers constructedand arranged to engage the lasting margin of an upper, of a carrier forthe grippers, means for moving the carrier heightwise of the upper, alifter on the back rest, and a member on the carrier arranged to engagethe lifter during said heightwise movement of the carrier.

4. In a machine for assembling shoe parts upon their lasts preparatoryto lasting, the combination with a back rest and grippers constructedand arranged to engage the back-seam portion of the lasting margin of anupper, of a carrier for the grippers, means for moving the carrierheightwise of the upper, a lifter on the back rest, and a roll mountedon the carrier and arranged to engage the lifter during said heightwisemovement of the carrier.

5. In a machine for assembling shoe parts upon their lasts preparatoryto lasting, the combination with grippers constructed and arranged toengage the back-seam portion of the lasting margin of an upper, of alower back rest constructed and arranged to grip the back-seam portionof the upper against a last and hold it against movement relatively tothe last while the grippers operate to apply heightwise tension to theupper, an upper back rest constructed and arranged for movementheightwise of the upper, and means for moving the grippers heightwise ofthe upper and moving the upper back rest in the same directionsimultaneously with the grippers.

6. In a machine for assembling shoe parts upon their lasts preparatoryto lasting, the combination with grippers constructed and arranged toengage the back-seam portion of the lasting margin of an upper, of alower back rest constructed and arranged to grip the back-seam portionof the upper against a last and hold it against movement relatively tothe last while the grippers operate to apply heightwise tension to theupper, an Lipper back rest constructed and arranged for movementheightwise of the upper, a carrier for the grippers, means for movingthe carrier heightwise of the upper, a lifter on the upper back rest,and a member on the carrier arranged to engage the lifter during saidheightwise movement of the carrier.

GEORGE V. CONDON. ALBIN C. EEK.

